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Paypal currency exchange rates

by fixxidotnet
6 replies
Has any one had experience with currency conversion in paypal ?

According to their customer service clerk they are supposed to be using xe.com for currency conversion within their system.

I have had two incoming money charges from vendors in usd. Because my balance is in GBP these had to be converted by paypal internally. The rate they used to convert was 3 points inferior to the xe.com rate for the day.....

paypal liars.
#currency #exchange #paypa #rates
  • Profile picture of the author Dan Ambrose
    massive thieves... but at the end of the day, what can you do? Without them, my business would go stale, very quickly!
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    • Profile picture of the author fixxidotnet
      Originally Posted by mm365 View Post

      massive thieves... but at the end of the day, what can you do? Without them, my business would go stale, very quickly!
      That is what i think. I am planning some trasnaction based sites which have to rely on internet payments. The developers will need payment infrastructure such as paypal's and i guess no other can match their API's etc. Maybe i just have to look from business perspective , factor it as business expense and get on.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Paypal has a method for conversion - and it's described on their site.

      As I recall, the conversion rate in place at the time of sale is what applies. This makes sense if you consider that otherwise people would use paypal as a currency exchange by leaving money in accounts until conversion rate was favorable.

      Paypal does not do real time currency conversions - thus avoids that kind of manipulation.

      If you look it up on the paypal site - it's fully explained as I recall.

      kay
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      • Profile picture of the author Dan Ambrose
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        If you look it up on the paypal site - it's fully explained as I recall.

        kay

        Care to provide a link to this.. I would be very interested to read it. Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author Neil Morgan
        From the PayPal site in relation to withdrawing funds from your PayPal account to your bank account:

        ====
        If your transaction involves a currency conversion, it will be completed at a retail exchange rate determined by PayPal. This rate includes a 2.5% spread above the wholesale exchange rate at which PayPal obtains foreign currency.
        ====

        ...from page:

        https://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/?c...y-fees-outside

        ...which confirms what I thought - that the exchange rate used is calculated at the time of withdrawal, not the time of sale.

        Sure, their rate isn't that wonderful but it's how they make money. If they didn't do it, their fees would be higher.

        And, as I discovered a couple of years ago, it's not possible to link a UK-based USD bank account to your PayPal account if you're a UK business to avoid the PayPal exchange rate - they don't allow it.

        Cheers,

        Neil
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        • Profile picture of the author Kay King
          I was thinking of the refund practice, I guess.

          Refunds are performed using the exchange rate which was current at the time of the original payment
          Keep in mind that some of the rates quoted in the media are the inter-bank rates that are available only to the largest international banks, which purchase currencies in quantities of US $1,000,000 or more. A more applicable comparison for consumers is the exchange rates quoted at airports or other consumer currency exchange shops.
          kay
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          Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
          ***
          It actually doesn't take much to be considered a 'difficult woman' -
          that's why there are so many of us.
          ...jane goodall
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